Weathering Wilma

Just three months after hurricane Emily, hurricane Wilma followed her little sister to Playa del Carmen and the surrounding area on October 21st. While Emily was impressive enough, she was only an overnight guest. Wilma, not to be outdone by her sibling, arrived with luggage and camping equipment and enough destructive force to realign the scenery from Akumal to Cancun and consume the island of Cozumel as an appetizer on her way in. She pounded the area for forty-eight hours before packing up and leaving for Florida.

 During her stay and after her departure, news reports were grim, generally stating that Playa del Carmen was a place of the past, virtually removed from the map and that basic services would not be available for months and the town would need to be completely rebuilt.

 I am pleased to relay that the reports of Playa del Carmen’s demise were greatly exaggerated. As Wilmahightailed it out of town on Sunday, crews were already out in force clearing roadways and downed power lines. Gasoline, which we were told would not be available for an indefinite period of time was available at most of the Pemex stations in Playa on Monday afternoon. Electrical power which was precautionarily turned off by the Municipality on Friday morning at 4am was restored to portions of Playacar, central downtown and 5^th Avenue on Monday evening. Our own home on the north end of town by Coco Beach had power restored at 3:50pm on Tuesday along with gas and water. Restaurants and shops that were not operating by Monday continued to open their doors during the following days. A stroll along 5^th Avenue on Thursday morning found shopkeepers ready, willing and able. Again as with Emily, the resiliency of the Mexican people proved to be quite amazing. Another noteworthy item is that the “red tape” of rebuilding in the US does not seem to apply in Mexico. “If it’s broke, fix it!” seems to be the motto. While we who live here often complain about the crude infrastructure of electricity, gas, water and sewer installations, it also appears that these systems are considerably easier to repair and restore than what we are accustomed to back home.

 

Beaches for the most part are now substantially enhanced. Beachfront hotels indeed have more coral sand than they know what to do with. Shovels and wheelbarrows are busy removing three to four feet of sand from some of the ground floor units. In the area around Coco Beach, the three most popular beach clubs, Mamitas, El Tukan, and Zubul Reef Club are down but not out. Crews are actively removing the rubble and no doubt will have things up and running in the near future. In the meantime, the few remaining tourists can be found lounging comfortably on the beach appearing not to notice the activity of the work crews surrounding them.

Restoration of services was of course of primary concern but it now appears the larger problem may not be lack of services but lack of tourism. Unfortunately, the airport in Cancun which did sustain damage has had its hands full just getting people out of the area who have been stranded since last Thursday. No incoming passengers are allowed at this time. The planes fly in empty and fly out full. Information regarding airport operations is still sketchy but it appears that the control tower was damaged and planes coming in and out need to use visual systems rather than automatic systems to land and take off. This does not please the airlines I’m sure. Also there is no jet fuel available at this time so planes coming in need to have enough fuel onboard to fly out again. Earlier in the week, I had heard that passengers were required to leave luggage behind temporarily due to weight and the temporary absence of electronic security scanning equipment. I don’t know if this was actually the case or not.

The local community depends almost entirely on tourism as it drives not only the lodging and restaurant industry but almost every other aspect of commerce as well in the area. Even a temporary downturn in visitors can have a significant impact on the majority of the local community who rely solely on the income derived from tourism to eat, buy clothing and pay rent and utilities. These ongoing expenses can only be defrayed by tourism dollars.

Structural damage in Playa was largely limited to broken glass and water damage. The use of concrete and steel in the construction process here appears to protect the structural integrity of all buildings in general. Palapa roofs are easily destroyed but are also easily replaced. Many were damaged but many are still intact. Several of the larger commercial buildings out near the highway with sheet metal roofs will need to replace them as well.

A visit to Sam’s Club on Wednesday resulted in US rib eye steaks, fresh pork tenderloin, cheese and other items necessary to replenish our refrigerator. Fresh caught fish was being sold on the street from ice chest coolers mounted on the three wheeled bicycles for 30 pesos per kilo (less than three dollars for 2 ¼ pounds). We had a wonderful dinner at our favorite restaurant “Chicago” on Thursday night where we visited with the owners and our friends, Peter and Dahlia.  A temporary ban on the sale of alcohol was lifted on Friday much to the delight of many.

What Playa really needs now is you! When you get here, you will find Playa ready and waiting. See you soon!

Along Came Emily

First and foremost we and everyone else in Playa made it safely through the storm. Secondly, our home did as well,
however not everyone fared as well in that department. Where we live, our condos came through with flying colors. All condos are completely intact. In very limited instances there was some water seepage through doors and windows but to my knowledge, no physical damage to any contents. The flora and fauna took quite a beating. Some trees are down and almost all of the leaves were stripped from their branches. The remaining ones appear to be falling. I don’t know if they will regrow or die. The pool is fine and should be ready for use by today. It was pea green from all the leaves and branches.

Most of Saturday and Sunday were spent removing patio furniture, plants, rooftop items, etc. Windows
were taped, a limited amount of plywood was put up. The supply of plywood available in town ran out quickly. All doors and windows were secured (completely closed and locked). I removed the internet antenna and the router from the rooftop on Sunday at 1 pm.

There were a few guests here who were trying to get out of Cancun on Sunday. It was their scheduled day of departure anyway. They left early in the morning on Sunday and apparently made their flights okay. The Cancun airport was a madhouse and I did not envy their situation.

Princesa and I accepted an offer from a friend to stay in a 3rd-floor condo in Playacar II on Sunday night. Our main concern was not the integrity of the structure at our place but the potential of a 4-meter storm surge coming in from the beach. (By the way, the storm surge never materialized). Two other owners who were down on vacation stayed put and the last two renters remaining also stayed. Sue and I spent several hours on Sunday morning moving our furniture into the bedrooms or at least further from the windows. Important documents and other paperwork were packed in plastic boxes and put on the upper shelves in the bedroom closets.

Our power went out at 1 pm on Sunday but some units stayed on until around 7 pm Sunday. We left for Playacar around 2 pm but came back around 6 pm to get some groceries we left behind so we could make dinner in Playacar. We were getting cabin fever in the condo we were staying in since it was completely hurricane shuttered. When we drove back the streets were totally deserted including 5^th Avenue. We ended up staying at the condo in Playacar with three other folks. A couple from Indiana who left the Grand Porto Real on the beach and a Judy Shaw from another real estate company in Playa that I had met previously and her two dogs. How we all ended up in the same place I’m not sure but it was nice to have some other folks around. We made dinner and watched the storm progress on TV until the power went out at 7 pm. From here on out it was flashlights and candles.

The winds really began to increase around 9:30. I’m guessing 60 to 70 mph around that time. We stepped outside the front door (which faced to the west) a couple of times for some fresh air.  Around 10:45 the wind was howling pretty good so we all turned in to try and get a little rest. Everyone was exhausted from the stress and strain of getting ready for Emily and the uncertainty of what was yet to come. The condo was hotter than h… by that time and very humid. We tossed and turned, sleeping in our clothes while the winds continued to increase dramatically. By this time I imagine the wind was reaching its maximum velocity near 150 mph. At 12:30 I could no longer lay down. The wind, the lightning and the rattling hurricane shutters had my full attention. The noise was very loud and the different sounds being created were completely different from any I had ever heard before. Lightning bolts without thunder made the rooms light up very eerily every few seconds. I walked out to the living room area with a flashlight and immediately found myself walking in water. I looked up but could not see any water coming through the ceiling. I then heard a creaking and groaning towards the sliding glass doors. These doors were about fourteen feet across in length. When I put the flashlight on the doors I could see the entire frame of the slider moving in the wall and the center of the window was bowing in and out. I went back to the bedrooms and got the others up and we all watched the window from a distance with our flashlights. The place was roaring by now. We decided if the window blew that we would open another window somewhere else to let the air pass through. However, we couldn’t find a window that we could open only partway. We went back to the bedroom to think some more. Suddenly we heard a thud in the living room. Back out with the flashlight to find the middle section of the slider had blown in and was laying on the floor, unbroken. The hurricane shutter on the outside was still intact but now we were getting more wind and water inside. This was our most terrifying moment and the storm was at its peak. With nothing more to do, we went back to the bedrooms and securely closed all doors to wait things out. Around 3 am the wind began to subside back to around 60 or 70 mph. After that we dozed off and on until 6:30. We then went outside to look around and were pretty stunned by what we saw. Trees if not blown down outright, were cut off at about 12 feet high. It was like someone with a huge chainsaw cut them all off at the same level. There were a few cars with fallen trees on them and a few places with some broken windows. The street was fairly flooded and the huge palapa roof at the neighboring hotel was gone. Everywhere, the branches and leaves covered the ground.

Around 7:30, I called Bob at the condos and amazingly got through. He had already done a walkthrough of the property and to my amazement reported preliminarily very little or no damage. We mopped out the condo we had stayed in and headed back to our place around 8:30. It took a while to get there and we had to do a little offroading through Playacar due to all of the downed trees. There was already a substantial workforce throughout Playacar and central Playa clearing roadways and downed power lines.

When we arrived back home, we couldn’t get through the front gate due to the downed trees but the staff was already there in force clearing the way and beginning the cleanup. Pretty impressive since they all had homes and families of their own to think about. Even Jorge and Sergio rolled up their sleeves and went to work. There was a massive amount of cleanup to do and they worked incredibly hard for two days. There is still more to do but what is left is minor.

Donato made it just fine and I believe reopened the restaurant yesterday. He plywooded up completely and pulled a few of his cars up into the dining room seating area and parked them alongside his plywood walls. Clever man that Donato! I talked to him on Monday morning and he said he stayed up until 3 am watching TV with his portable generator. Strange man that Donato!

Power was restored to the condos around 8:30 on Tuesday along with gas and water.

We took quite a few pictures but what you have seen on the TV and internet is probably more enlightening than what we have. I do have some pictures of the condos that may be of interest. When I can, I will upload them to "Ofoto" or “Photo Bucket” for those that are interested or you can see them the next time you’re down.

All in all, things could have been much worse. We were very fortunate considering the force of the storm. Puerto Aventuras was hit very hard.  Sue and I went down yesterday. The damage was more severe than in Playa as they were very close to the eye of Emily. It will take a while for them to get back on their feet.

S and J in D-301 and J and S in E-301, congratulations. You now have ocean views. The huge tree at the Shangri La blocking your view is now a thing of the past. Can’t say for how long but at least for now it looks pretty good.

That’s it for now. Thanks to everyone who sent us your well wishes and prayers. Let us know if you have any questions.